The Sagrada Familia is one of the most visited monuments in the world, attracting more than 4.5 million visitors each year. And it’s no wonder. This basilica has been under construction for more than 140 years and continues to leave everyone speechless when they arrive in the city.
If you want to visit the Sagrada Familia, keep in mind that you cannot enter with large backpacks or suitcases. If you arrive early in Barcelona and your accommodation is not available, or if you have to leave your room and don’t know what to do with your belongings, you can leave them in our Lock Here Now automatic lockers.
You can find them at various strategic locations in Barcelona, such as Sants Station and Arc de Triomf, from where you can reach the Sagrada Familia in a few minutes by metro. Leave your luggage in a secure location, receive your access code instantly, and forget about carrying heavy bags while you explore the city. They are open 24 hours a day!
6 Interesting Facts You Should Know Before Visiting
The Sagrada Familia is a temple full of symbolism, mathematical secrets, and details that go unnoticed if you don’t know where to look. Here are some interesting facts you should know before entering.
The Facade that Tells the Life of Jesus
The Sagrada Familia has three façades, each depicting a different part of Christ’s life. They are a veritable bible carved in stone.
- Nativity Façade: this is the only one that Gaudí completed during his lifetime. It faces east, so that the morning sun illuminates the scenes of the birth of Jesus. Everything is full of naturalistic details: birds, turtles, insects, plants… and a giant cypress tree representing the tree of life. Gaudí wanted this façade to convey joy and life.
- Passion Façade: this faces west and the scenes depict the suffering and death of Christ. The figures are angular, with straight, hard lines. It was designed by the sculptor Josep María Subirachs based on sketches left by Gaudí before his death. You can see the famous magic square: a sudoku of numbers where all the rows, columns, and diagonals add up to 33, the age of Christ at his death.
- Glory Façade: still under construction, but it will be the main entrance to the temple. It will represent resurrection and eternal life. Gaudí’s idea was that the midday light would enter directly from above, symbolizing divine glory.
Gaudí's Growing Forest: The Interior
Gaudí designed 36 columns inside the temple that imitated tree trunks. They are slightly inclined inward, like trees that bend to support the weight of their branches. And they do not end in a normal capital; they branch out at the top, forming a network of branches that support the roof.
To design these columns, Gaudí was inspired by the eucalyptus trees he saw growing from his studio next to the temple. Each column has a helical shape (like a double helix of DNA) and is made of different materials depending on the weight it must support: red granite for the most resistant ones, black basalt, gray granite, and yellow sandstone for the others. This combination of colors creates a chromatic sensation that reinforces the hierarchy of the space and makes you feel like you are in the middle of a stone forest.
Everything is designed with natural forms. The vaults resemble the canopy of a forest, the capitals are shaped like fruits (pomegranates, grapes, figs) symbolizing spiritual abundance, and the stained glass windows change color depending on the time of day. In the morning, the east side is filled with warm tones (yellows, oranges, reds). In the afternoon, the west side shines with cool tones (blues, greens, violets). Gaudí wanted light to be the fourth architectural element of the temple.
Over a Century of Construction (and counting)
The first stone of the Sagrada Familia was laid on March 19, 1882, more than 140 years ago. The original project was designed by Francisco de Paula del Villar, a conservative neo-Gothic architect.
In 1883, a 31-year-old man named Antoni Gaudí took over and worked on the Sagrada Familia for 43 years. He devoted the last 15 years of his life exclusively to this project (he even lived in the workshop on the site). Gaudí died in 1926 after being hit by a tram. As he was a modest-looking man, he was mistaken for a beggar and help arrived too late. Three days later, he passed away. Today, he is buried in the crypt of the Sagrada Familia, just below the altar.
At that time, only 15% to 25% of the temple had been completed. During the Spanish Civil War in 1936, revolutionaries set fire to Gaudí’s workshop and destroyed most of his plans and models. Fortunately, some photographs and documents survived, and the architects were able to reconstruct the project. Since then, seven other architects have directed the work. Currently, the chief architect is Jordi Faulí.
Expected completion date: the works are expected to be completed in 2026, the centenary of Gaudí’s death. If this is achieved, it will be 144 years since the first stone was laid. When completed, the Sagrada Familia will have 18 towers: 12 dedicated to the apostles, 4 to the evangelists, 1 to the Virgin Mary, and the tallest (172.5 meters) to Jesus Christ.
The Tower of Jesus
Gaudí designed the central tower of Jesus Christ to reach exactly 172.5 meters in height. Why such a specific figure? Because Montjuïc mountain is 177 meters high. Gaudí was religious and had a very clear idea: no work of man should surpass the work of God. For him, nature was the divine creation par excellence and no human building could be above it.
This detail says a lot about his architectural philosophy. Gaudí did not build out of ego or to break records: he built out of devotion. He wanted the Sagrada Familia to be the perfect link between earth and heaven, but always with humility.
When the tower is finished (it is expected to be one of the last to be completed), the Sagrada Familia will be the tallest church in the world, surpassing the Ulm Cathedral in Germany by 11 meters. But it will never surpass Montjuïc.
Real Models for Statues (including animals)
Gaudí was obsessed with realism. It wasn’t enough for him to imagine what a figure should look like: he wanted to see it, touch it, study it… To sculpt the figures on the Nativity Façade, he used real models such as workers, neighbors from the neighborhood, friends of his… They all posed for hours so that the sculptors could capture every detail.
There are entire scenes where we know exactly who the model was. For example, in The Flight into Egypt, the family that appears is based on real people from the Eixample neighborhood. The mule carrying the Virgin Mary was a real mule named Margarita, which Gaudí brought to the workshop to study its anatomy.
Decades later, when Japanese sculptor Etsuro Sotoo became the temple’s head sculptor, he added his own touch. If you look at the more recent sculptures on the Nativity Façade, you will see Asian faces among the figures. Sotoo incorporated Japanese models to continue the project, respecting Gaudí’s technique but adding cultural diversity to the temple.
This level of detail also extends to the animals and plants. There are birds carved with anatomical precision, insects hidden among the leaves, turtles at the bases of the columns, and even snails climbing the walls. Everything is based on nature.
The Holy Family School: A Building Within the Project
In 1909, while the Sagrada Familia was still under construction, Gaudí built a temporary school inside the temple for the children of the workers who were working on the site and for disadvantaged children in the neighborhood.
The Sagrada Familia School was a small building with a wavy brick roof and curved walls (Gaudí did not like straight lines). Although it was a temporary construction, Gaudí applied the same architectural principles as in the temple.
The original building was destroyed during the Civil War, but in 2002 it was rebuilt identically a few meters from its original location. Today you can see it next to the Glory Façade. This school inspired many modern architects despite being a “lesser-known” project, proving that Gaudí’s ideas about natural forms of construction could be applied to any type of building and not just large temples.
Visit the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona without any hassle
I recommend visiting the Sagrada Familia without suitcases, large backpacks, or bulky items, as they are not allowed inside the temple. You will be asked to leave them outside, or you will not be allowed to enter. And carrying luggage around Barcelona can be exhausting.
If you arrive in the city early and your hotel isn’t ready, or if your flight leaves at night but you’ve already checked out of your accommodation, the best decision you can make is to leave your luggage in an automatic locker.
Lockers near the Sagrada Familia
The closest luggage storage facility to the Sagrada Familia is at the Arc de Triomf (Carrer de Trafalgar, 47). You can get there in 5 minutes by taking the L1 (red) metro line. You can also walk there in about 20 minutes if you want to explore the Eixample neighborhood.
If you arrive by train, there is also a luggage storage facility at Sants Station (Carrer del Rector Triadó, 43). At Sants, you can take the L5 (blue) line and reach the Sagrada Familia in 10 minutes.
Both luggage storage facilities are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and are monitored by video surveillance 24/7. You can choose the size you need; we have several available in our luggage storage facilities.
The process is very simple: book online in less than 5 minutes from your mobile phone, receive your unique access code by email and WhatsApp, go to the locker, enter the code, and store your luggage. When you’re done exploring the city, come back, enter the code, and pick up your things. I recommend booking your locker in advance, especially during high season, weekends, or holidays, so you can plan your visit with complete peace of mind.
Barcelona is an incredible city, and the Sagrada Familia is one of those things you have to see at least once in your life. Because after more than 140 years of construction, this temple deserves to be visited at your leisure.
